


Bad-Asses Need Hugs Too

by lumos_haails



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Adorable Bruce Banner, Clint Barton Is a Good Bro, Cuddling & Snuggling, Friendship, Hugs, Natasha Romanov Is Not A Robot, Platonic Cuddling, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Touch-Starved, hand-holding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-23
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2020-09-24 22:03:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20365825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lumos_haails/pseuds/lumos_haails
Summary: In which everyone is willing to cure a touch-starved master assassin.





	Bad-Asses Need Hugs Too

Natasha was known for not being someone who would talk about her feelings or become vulnerable when she knew others had their eyes on her. There was this reputation of being a literal bad-ass that was somehow placed on her name, and she had effectively kept up the stoic superhero persona that everyone knew her to have. 

Though Natasha was now constantly surrounded by this new team, she didn't want to say it, but she felt as lonely as ever. She woke up, fought through missions and then went to bed, _over and over and over _again.

She watched her teammates grow closer ever since the first day they assembled. She noticed how they moved into each other's personal space, and shared high-fives, or friendly pats on the back, or even hugs. However, she understood why they never offered _her _their friendly touches. She was intimidating, she made herself like that. She knew she didn't exactly come across as a touchy-feely person, so who could blame them if they didn't want to hold _her_ hand or rub _her_ back at times. 

Weeks came and went and for some reason that she couldn't bring herself to accept that she wasn't happy. They thought she was just being moody or was tired, but she knew she was letting her guard down, more and more. Her teammates could've easily sensed the change in her demeanor. She moped through her days and though she gave a fair share of false smiles and fake laugh, she didn't act like the Black Widow they had grown accustomed to. Deep down, Natasha just wanted a hug, or a pat of affection, or simply even a handshake, literally any touch that didn't involve punches or choke-holds. 

One day, after several pushes from the rest of the guys, Clint finally mustered up the courage to talk to her. He was aware that he was actually her best friend, so he shouldn't have been nervous, right? Wrong. Clint could sense whenever something was up with Nat but, for his safety, he didn't always pursue them, Sometimes he'd try to talk to her, but at some instances he had probably pushed too far and earned a slap or a kick to the groin.

He found her on the couch of her room, flipping carelessly through a book. He sat next to her and felt a relief when she didn't shoot him a cold glare, instead she marked her page and tossed the book next to her, scooting closer so their legs and shoulders were almost touching.

"Nat, I know something's up." he paused when her eyes darted away from his, visibly tensing up. "You can tell me, I can help." He placed his palms on her knees and she immediately leaned into the touch, eyes closing as the the warmth surged through her body from her his hands met her skin.

"It's nothing, I'm fine." she answered and one look at her choked up face told Clint, it wasn't 'nothing'. Clint was at a loss for words as he watched her eyes blink away tears and he tried to remember the last time he'd seen her like this. Deciding against his internal warnings, he carefully pulled her into him, lightly wrapping his arms around her small frame, leaving enough room in case she wanted to punch him in the face and squirm out of his grasp.

Surprisingly, all she did was accept the hug and rested her head in the crook of his neck. She'd moved forward and was now almost on his lap. He held her with wide eyes, shocked at how relaxed she was as she melted in his arms and then it hit him. "Nat, when was the last time you had a hug?"

He could feel her face scrunch against him and her shoulders shrug. He gave a sad and soft smile, even though she couldn't see him.

"You could've asked me you know. You're touch-starved Nat. Even bad-asses need hugs too you know." and she chuckled quietly, not pulling away or responding. He just continued rubbing her back and pressed a kiss into her hair.

"Thanks," she mumbled against his neck, but drew no attention to any of Clint's previous words.

* * *

After that day, the Avengers listened closely to what Clint had told them, and each of them became furious and guilty that they couldn't notice it for themselves. But now that they knew, they were determined to make her feel better. They cared way too much about the Black Widow to see her unhappy.

Bruce learned that she liked holding his hand, after he had almost tripped down the stairs of the tower and she grabbed his hand to stop him from falling. He shot her a thankful look and intertwined his fingers with her own as they both made their way to the kitchen. He never felt more proud when he saw the small and discreet smile she gave when he sneaked a glance at her.

Now whenever they sat next to each other on the couch at movie night, or during briefings with Fury, he would hold her hand tenderly and rub his thumb over her knuckles.

.............

Thor, on the other hand, took a different approach. After a mission one day, the team was making their way back to the Quin-jet. Natasha limped slowly at Thor's side and his mouth turned in a frown when he looked at her injured leg.

"Allow me Miss Widow," he said with a grin and stooped in front of her, motioning with his arms for her to get on his back. She hid a smirk and accepted the gentleman's offer, jumping onto the much larger man, with her legs wrapping around his waist and arms around his shoulders. He kept a hand on her thigh to prevent her from slipping and effortlessly carried her to the jet, chatting about nonsense on the way. It was the first time he'd been able to make her laugh and he blushed at the sound. When he bent for her to get down, she quickly pressed a kiss to his cheek and muttered a thanks.

Since then Thor enjoyed carrying Natasha around, most of the times unnecessarily. He would tote her up the stairs, or carry her bridal style to her bed when she fell asleep on the couch. He would even give her piggyback rides around the tower for no reason at all. He had grew fond of the tiny assassin and gained great joy in picking her up and making her laugh.

.............

Natasha had definitely figured out that Clint had told the rest of the team about their incident in her room, but instead of being mad, she was surprisingly grateful. She couldn't hide the joy she got due to her fellow Avengers suddenly becoming much more affectionate to her.

After Thor had helped her to med-bay, she was left on bed rest after she dug out a bullet from her leg. She lay on the hospital bed and jerked up when the door opened revealing a mess of blond hair on a body of muscle. 

"Hey," Steve gave her a smile and from behind his back brought forward his hand which held the unfinished book Natasha was reading. He sat next to her on the bed and handed it to her. "Thought you might be bored, you know, not walking and stuff."

She snickered and shifted around to make space for the super soldier next to her. He kicked off his shoes and lay down, pressed to Natasha. She opened the book, to the page she had marked and continued to read, while Steve turned to pillow his head on her chest and drape his arm around her torso. There they both lay in comfortable silence. 

He had always loved hugs, but the Black Widow didn't initially strike him as a hugger. But now, he'd hug her all the time. When they met at meetings, he'd give her a formal hug, or when they accidentally bumped into each other in the shared kitchen, he embrace her from behind as she made her coffee or toast. Even sometimes, when she just seemed sad, Steve would always notice, immediately pulling her into a side hug or holding her head in his broad chest.

.............

However, Natasha got the most touch from the person she had least expected, Stark.

Don't get her wrong, she loved the engineer, but she didn't quite take him to be a cuddler. For some reason, he had seemed much similar to her, steering clear of the team's closeness. Though she had found out that it was quite the contrary recently, after she stumbled onto his private floor one night, and rummaged through his fridge for some Coke after all had finished in their communal kitchen.

"Ah, Agent Romanov, what are you doing up?' he spoke from his position on the couch, but Natasha couldn't spot him in the darkness.

"Where are you?"

"Oh sorry," and after a command to JARVIS, the dimmer lights turned on and she made out his figure in the living room. "Smuggling some Coke I see," and winked.

She rolled her eyes and popped the can open, now making her way to him, rather than the elevator to return to her own floor. She plopped on the cushion at his side and sipped at the can, cringing when the coldness hit her tongue.

"What are you doing up?" he repeated, this time softer, as he set down the tablet he was holding and turned to her, sighing through his nose and staring into her striking green eyes. "You should get some sleep."

"So should you."

But he shot her a look that basically screamed 'bitch please' and scoffed. His eyes drifted to her fingers which fiddled with the untied strings of her pants absentmindedly and Tony had to push down the urge to tie them. His expression softened as he took in how _exhausted_ she looked, and that was a lot coming from him. 

"Well it's cool I guess, now I have someone to hang out with," he coolly shrugged and scooted closer to her to rest his head on her shoulder and pulled her hand to play with her fingers. 

She smiled and and put the Coke forward, offering some to him, to which he gratefully accepted and brought the can to his lips before returning it. They sat in awkward silence before Natasha felt Tony 's mouth move his head on her shoulder. 

"Truth or dare?"

She raised her legs onto the coffee table and responded, "Dare."

And that's what they did. Sometimes they would share drinks, or watch movies or listen to music or play stupid games. It really didn't matter what they did but they always did it together. Sometimes she'd sit between his legs, letting him braid her hair or massage her shoulders, or they'd be squeezed knee to knee on the floor when Tony would allow her to paint his nails. On the very rare occasions, they would convince each other to actually get some sleep and they'd lay across the couch with their arms and legs entangled. 

She immensely enjoyed it, and after several months had passed, she finally begun to feel better. Though she never felt to verbally admit it, all the hand holds, shoulder and back rubs, hugs and head kisses she'd received from her, now adorably affectionate teammates, had really made her feel at ease. Maybe Clint was right; _bad-asses did need hugs too._

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry I still don't know how to write dialogue. If you listen to my dumbass talk, you'd understand lmao.
> 
> Also you can follow me on Tumblr if you want: @peachy-haails


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